On Slacktivism

A letter in response to Malcolm Gladwell’s article (October 4, 2010)

Malcolm Gladwell’s premise that social media don’t lead to significant activism was challenged by the recent announcement that the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to the jailed Chinese political activist Liu Xiaobo (“Small Change,” October 4th). Liu’s arrest was the result of a pro-democracy manifesto, Charter 08, which was circulated on the Internet and which gathered some ten thousand signatures before being removed by government censors. In the crackdown that followed, hundreds of the signatories were interrogated and numerous blogs were shut down. In places like China, where political gatherings require government permits, the civil-rights sit-ins could never have happened—the only place for people to come together is on Internet-hosted forums. In implying that such Internet exchanges are not high-risk, Gladwell underestimates the danger of prosecution for bloggers and Twitterers in countries where heavy censorship is a part of everyday life.

Joseph Ting

Brisbane, Australia

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